September 5/16 1:04 am - Hesjedal 4th in Stage 4 of Tour of Alberta

Ryder Hesjedal (Trek Segafredo) of Victoria was the top Canadian rider on Sunday at Stage 4 of the Tour of Alberta, finishing fourth in the individual time trial, held in Edmonton.

The 12.1 kilometre time trial took the riders along the North Saskatchewan River valley through the center of Edmonton, with a one kilometre climb in the last third of the race.

Bauke Mollema, a team mate of Hesjedal, won the stage with a time of 14 minutes and 44.12 seconds. Andzs Flaksis (Holowesko/Citadel) was second, nine seconds back, with Robin Carpenter (Holowesko/Citadel) third at 16 seconds. Hesjedal was a further three seconds in arrears. With his win, Mollema is only one second out of the overall lead, behind Carpenter, who took the leader's jersey from stage 3 winner Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling).

"My goal this week was to do a really good time trial," said Mollema, the defending champion at the Tour of Alberta. "It was on road bikes instead of time trial bikes, so there was a chance for me to win. I think I did a really good time trial technically, and I think it's the first time trial I have won since I turned pro! It's not going to be easy [to take back one second] because Robin is riding very strong. But the team will make a good plan and try our best tomorrow."

Alex Cataford (Silber Pro Cycling) finished tenth and continues to hold the Best Canadian Jersey, sitting in fifth place overall, and 32 seconds behind race leader Carpenter. Cataford's team mate Nigel Ellsay is seventh and Team Canada leader Antoine Duchesne is eighth.

"It wasn't a time trial that suits my strengths," said Cataford. "But time trials are still the strongest part of my riding, so I'm happy to hold onto the Jersey and even extend my lead. I was hoping to improve a bit more in terms of the overall standings, but I went out there and gave it everything I had on the day and I'm happy with my performance."

The Tour of Alberta concludes on Monday with a 124 kilometre circuit race around downtown Edmonton.